Panorama of week:  Pledges to resist Taliban in Afghanistan, Iraqi division over inviting Syria to Baghdad summit

 This week's Arab newspapers covered the situation in Afghanistan, in addition to the Iraqi division over Syria's invitation to the Baghdad summit, as well as the situation in Libya.

 Armed opposition to the Taliban gather in the Panjshir Valley

Regarding the situation in Afghanistan, Asharq Al-Awsat newspaper said: “Ahmed Masoud, son of Ahmed Shah Masoud, who was one of the main leaders of the resistance to the Soviet occupation of Afghanistan in the eighties of the last century, pledged to stand firm in the face of the Taliban from his stronghold in the Panjshir Valley, where armed opponents gather to rule  movement in Kabul.

 Ahmed Masoud, 32, whose father was assassinated by al-Qaeda in 2001, demanded in an article published by the "Washington Post" newspaper, on Wednesday, for American support with weapons and ammunition for the militia he leads in Afghanistan in order to resist the "Taliban."  The Taliban has never been able to control the hard-to-reach Panjshir Valley.

 Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov stated that the resistance against the "Taliban" is concentrated in Panjshir with former Vice President Amrullah Saleh and the son of Ahmed Shah Massoud.  "(The Taliban) does not control all the Afghan territory," Lavrov said at a press conference in Moscow.  Information arrives on the situation in the Panjshir Valley,” northeast of Kabul, “where the resistance forces of Vice President (Amr Allah) Saleh and Ahmed Masoud are stationed.”  Lavrov called again for a "national dialogue that would allow the formation of a representative government," stressing that Russia was mainly insisting on such a mechanism to end the Afghan conflict before the Taliban took control of Kabul and most of the country.

"America can still be a great arsenal of democracy" by supporting his fighters "who are once again ready to confront (the Taliban)," Ahmed Masoud said in his article in the "Washington Post" newspaper.  The French Press Agency indicated that his father, Ahmed Shah Massoud, was one of the heroes of the anti-Soviet resistance and fought the "Taliban".

 Ahmed Masoud, who leads a political party called the "Resistance Front", published a column on Monday in the French magazine "La Regal de Jo", founded by writer Bernard-Henri Levy, in which he asserted that he wanted to make his father's battle his "war".  He called on Afghans to join him “in our stronghold of Panjshir;  It is the last free zone in our dying country.”

 In his article in the Washington Post, Ahmed Masoud said Afghan army soldiers "outraged at the surrender of their leaders" as well as some members of the Afghan Special Forces, have moved to Panjshir.

 This article came on the heels of Amrullah Saleh, a close aide to Ahmad Shah Massoud and later vice president, declaring that he was the legitimate president of Afghanistan after Ashraf Ghani fled Kabul with the Taliban taking control of the Afghan capital on Sunday.

Indicators of disagreement between the Iraqi government and the PMF over Syria's invitation to the Baghdad Regional Summit

 Regarding Syria’s invitation to the Baghdad summit, Al-Arab newspaper said: “Signs of a dispute have surfaced between the Iraqi government and the Popular Mobilization, which is classified as an official body within the Iraqi state institutions, regarding Syria’s invitation to attend the regional summit hosted by Baghdad later this month, and the government of Mustafa Al-Kazemi hopes to make  Among them is a diplomatic achievement that counts as a major step towards restoring Iraq to its previous position among the countries of the region and the world.

 The Iraqi government overlooked Syria's invitation to the summit due to the fact that invited forces, including France, did not recognize the regime of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, but the Popular Mobilization Committee took the initiative to send the invitation that was carried to Damascus by its head, Faleh al-Fayyad.

 On Monday, the Iraqi government denied sending an official invitation to Assad to attend the summit and repudiated any invitation that might have been directed at it.

 Iraqi sources ruled out that sending this invitation resulted from a mere misunderstanding or weakness in coordination between the PMF and the Iraqi Foreign Ministry, stressing that it was made on the basis of the tripartite alliance between Syria, the PMF militias and Iran, and it is expected that the latter knew in advance of Fayyad’s move and might be behind the invitation with the aim of  embarrassing the Al-Kazemi government.

 The same sources considered that the early emergence of al-Assad's invitation sows doubts about the Iraqi government's ability to make the summit a success in the absence of an internal consensus on who will attend it, expecting that the PMF in the coming days will escalate its pressure out of its disagreement with the presence of regional powers that it classifies as its enemy in return for the absence of  its ally, Damascus.

It pointed out that the PMF does not have the luxury of accepting the exclusion of Syria from the summit, because for it this means accepting Iraq's involvement in isolating Bashar al-Assad's regime.

 The Ministry of Foreign Affairs issued a statement commenting on what was reported by Arab media outlets regarding Fayyad's handing over an invitation to Assad to attend the summit, during a meeting they gathered on Sunday in the Syrian capital, Damascus.

 The ministry said in the statement, "Some media outlets circulated news that the Iraqi government submitted an invitation to the Syrian government to participate in the summit meeting of neighboring countries, which is scheduled to be held at the end of this month in Baghdad."

 They added that she "is not concerned with this invitation, and that the official invitations are sent by an official letter and in the name of the Iraqi Prime Minister, and no other party has the right to submit the invitation in its name."

 On the Syrian side, the official news agency, SANA, said that President al-Assad had received a message from the Iraqi Prime Minister regarding the conference of Iraq’s Neighboring Countries to be held in Baghdad at the end of August.

 The agency stated that the message conveyed by Al-Fayyad also touched on the importance of Syrian-Iraqi coordination on the conference and the topics on its agenda.

 It added that during the meeting, they "discussed the measures taken to enhance joint bilateral cooperation in all fields, especially with regard to combating terrorism and controlling border security."

 “Brotherhood of Libya” .. A desperate defense for the survival of mercenaries

As for the Libyan issue, Al Bayan newspaper said: "The Brotherhood of Libya and their allies launched a sharp attack on the Military Committee of the Joint Committee "5 + 5", because of its call to freeze all agreements and memoranda of understanding with foreign countries and to evacuate foreign fighters from all regions of the country.  Libya affiliated with the Brotherhood in the attack on the Military Committee Observers stressed that the attack on the Joint Military Committee is the strategy of the Brotherhood and those in their orbit, in reference to militia leaders, warlords, corruption lobbies, and some leaders associated with the Brotherhood movement.

 The Military Committee directed a letter to the Presidential Council, the Government, the House of Representatives, and the UN mission, in which it demanded the implementation of UN Security Council Resolution 2510 with the exit of mercenaries and foreign fighters from Libyan territory, and the freezing of military agreements and memoranda of understanding with any foreign country or foreign entity throughout Libya and announcing this officially to  When the head of state is directly elected by the people, so that the joint military committee can begin the procedures for implementing the exit and departure of mercenaries, fighters and foreign forces from the country.

 The committee warned the Presidential Council, the Interim Government of National Unity and the House of Representatives against the outbreak of war due to the seriousness of the situation and the vacancy of the position of the Minister of Defense so far.  ".

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ANHA